CANYON, Texas — West Texas A&M University flags will fly at half-staff April 19 in honor of students who died during the 2023-24 academic year.

A student memorial service also will be held at 11 a.m. April 19 in Legacy Hall inside the Jack B. Kelley Student Center on WT’s Canyon campus. A reception will follow.

The service and half-staff flags will commemorate the lives of three students who died during the academic year:

• Colby Scott Flow, a senior finance and economics major from Amarillo;
• Yonathan Mendoza, a freshman education major from Wheeler; and
• Daniel Wade Poole, a senior computer software engineering major from Amarillo.

“As we gather to honor the lives of Colby, Yonathan and Daniel, we recognize not only the loss felt by our community but also the mark they left on us and our University community,” said Filiberto Avila, student body president and senior digital media and communication major from Spearman. “This ceremony not only honors their lives but also reaffirms our commitment to cherish every moment and uphold the values they embodied. Their presence is deeply missed, but their legacies endure through the lives they touched.”

Scholarships of $800 for the 2024-25 academic year will be given by SGA in memory of those three Buffs to current students in the same field of study:

• Leticia Lora, a sophomore finance major from Gruver, in Flow’s memory;
• Ximena Badillo, a sophomore education major from Wheeler, in Mendoza’s memory; and
• Efrain Rosales, a sophomore computer science software engineering major from Perryton, in Poole’s memory.

To be eligible for the scholarships, students must be at least sophomores with a 2.5 GPA or higher and be active in extracurricular or community service activities.

Recognition of the lives lost is one way WT demonstrates its values, as outlined in the University’s long-range plan, WT 125: From the Panhandle to the World.

That plan is fueled by the historic One West comprehensive fundraising campaign, which reached its initial $125 million goal 18 months after publicly launching in September 2021. The campaign’s new goal is to reach $175 million by 2025; currently, it has raised nearly $160 million.